This study investigated the contextual effects of two different sojourn contexts on L2 development. The results of the qualitative analysis provided broader insights into the features of Anglophone and English as a Lingua Franca study abroad contexts, underlining issues of intercultural competence and ownership of language along with developmental findings.
In SLA, the study abroad context (SA) has gained attention due to high amounts of input and interaction opportunities compared to at home foreign language (AH) and domestic immersion (IM) contexts (Borras & Llanes, 2019). Additionally, student mobility programs over Europe, such as ERASMUS, have resulted in a new context abroad where the target language is not the official language of the host country. Given the lingua franca status of English, this new context is operationalized as English as lingua franca study abroad (ELFSA) in the current study, the developmental effects of which have been understudied in SLA to date. Motivated by this gap in the literature, this study investigates the contextual differences of the ELFSA context (a non-Anglophone country, such as Denmark) and the SA context (an Anglophone country, such as England) comparatively. The influences of these contextual differences upon exchangers' oral and written L2 development over a semester abroad have been explored through the qualitative analysis of learner perceptions pertained to their stay-abroad experiences either in a traditional or lingua franca setting. The textual data regarding the characteristics of the two study abroad contexts were collected via open-ended items in the Language Interaction Questionnaire and pre and post interviews with three sojourners per context (N = 6). The dataset was coded for emergent themes and were analyzed through content analysis. The results indicated that through providing fewer opportunities to interact with native speakers, the ELFSA became more beneficial for the participants due to increased opportunities to interact with other expert L2 speakers. The nature of such contact resulted in learners' shifting their focus from accuracy to meaning and fluency, resulting in greater self-perceived L2 development.
